Dissolving the concepts of materiality and authorship in cyberliterature: a look to the work Fantasia breve, a palavra-espuma

Abstract

The rise of computer technologies is incredibly fast, and their technical capacities are increasingly embraced by society. Hybrid activities among humans and machines are growingly present in creative processes. The possibilities of using the machine are multiple and unrestricted, which provides users with a creative freedom for artistic productions quite different from what is traditionally acknowledged by readers and critics. As to electronic literature, there are many opportunities for artistic creations, which at times end up in transgressions to what is more conventionally established by print literature. This rupture with tradition takes place in different levels and triggers questions as to the parameters used to evaluate those works: are the criteria from print literature enough to evaluate cyberliterature? In that context, this paper discusses, based on the work Fantasia breve, a palavra-espuma, by the Portuguese cyberpoet Rui Torres, the concepts of materiality and authorship, as well as how these are re-signified in the realm of literature in digital media.